Category: Posts EN

Late-Season Zeta Will Be a Hurricane for the Gulf Coast, Then a Snow Storm for New England!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Tropical Storm Zeta is accelerating over the central Gulf of Mexico. Intensification is expected and Zeta will likely be a hurricane as it approaches southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday. Zeta will bring heavy rain, damaging winds, and a dangerous storm surge to sections of the central Gulf coast that have already been battered by multiple storms this season. After landfall, Zeta will transition to an extratropical system. It will encounter enough cold air over New England to result in the first significant snow of the season!

 

 

Zeta is the 27th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, one shy of the record. It struck the Yucatan peninsula on Monday as a hurricane, the third of the season to hit the Mexican state of Quintano Roo, a new record. Zeta weakened back to tropical storm status after interacting with land. However, satellite imagery shows Zeta is intensifying as of Tuesday night. Zeta is accelerating and will approach southeast Louisiana by mid-afternoon. It’s likely to be the 11th named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S., shattering the previous record. The rapid speed of the storm could decrease the threat for flash flooding due to rainfall. However, damaging winds and storm surge could be enhanced. Gusts as high as 90 mph (145 kph) will level many trees and powerlines, leading to widespread power outages. Surge flooding as high as 6-8 feet (2.5 m) will pummel the coast from far southeast Louisiana to southern Mississippi and Alabama, a potentially deadly hazard for those who failed to heed evacuation orders. Conditions will improve in this region by Wednesday night as the storm pulls rapidly away.

 

 

The remnant circulation will merge with a northern jet system over the Northeast U.S. later this week. Tropical moisture will spread across the Mid-Atlantic and New England, leading to some minor flooding. However, over higher elevations the precipitation will fall as wet snow, leading to significant accumulations of up to 3-6 inches (7-15 cm) in some spots (see map above). A few flakes may even fly closer to the big cities along the coast by Friday as the system moves offshore. Hurricanes transitioning to winter storms are quite rare, but not unheard of. The infamous Superstorm Sandy, which started as a hurricane in late October 2012, dumped snows up to 2-3 feet (60-90 cm) in the central Appalachians! Zeta won’t muster that kind of accumulation, but a few inches of wet snow could still result in travel disruptions for interior New England on Friday.

Hurricane Delta Slams Into Coastal Louisiana With Dangerous Surge and High Winds

Written by Team Morecast

 

For the second time in less than two months, southwestern Louisiana has seen a punishing blow from a landfalling hurricane. Delta is not nearly as strong as Hurricane Laura was at landfall in late Augusta. Nevertheless, Delta is bringing destructive winds and widespread flooding to a region still recovering from earlier storms. Indeed, Delta made landfall only 13 miles (21 km) from Laura’s landfall point six weeks ago.

 

 

 

Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, struck the Yucatan Peninsula earlier this week. Delta weakened due to that interaction with land but quickly regained major hurricane status over the southern Gulf of Mexico. Fortunately, increasing shear and cooling ocean temperatures led to weakening as it approached Louisiana. However, Delta was still a dangerous Category Two hurricane with sustained winds to 100 mph (160 kph) at landfall. Delta has continued to move quickly north since this evening’s landfall, weakening steadily, but gusty winds and flooding rainfall will remain threats.

 

 

Radar estimates and ground reports indicate widespread rainfall of 12-18 inches (300-450 mm) has fallen over central and southwest Louisiana (see map above), leading to major flooding. A storm surge of up to ten feet (three meters) also inundated areas closer to the coast on Friday with many communities still underwater as of early Saturday morning. Winds have gusted as high as 100 mph (160 kph) as well, leading to numerous trees and powerlines down. The region is relatively sparsely populated. Nevertheless, nearly a half-million power outages have been reported from southwest Texas through Louisiana and southwest Mississippi.

Hurricane Delta Slams Yucatan Peninsula; Heads Towards U.S. Gulf Coast

Written by Team Morecast

Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall in Puerto Morelos, Mexico early on Wednesday morning. The Category 2 storm contained winds of 110 mph (177 kph) as it came ashore in the popular resort region. Before weakening upon landfall, Delta became the fastest intensifying storm on record in the Atlantic Basin, morphing from a tropical depression to Category 4 hurricane in just over 36 hours. Delta is on track to break another record by becoming the 10th named storm to make landfall in the United States in one season, as it is poised to strike the Louisiana coastline later on Friday. A Louisiana landfall also would break a record for the state, by becoming the 4th named storm to do so this year, an occurrence that has never been recorded so far.

Although not as intense as initially forecasted, Delta did manage to leave its mark across the Yucatan Peninsula from Cozumel to Cancun. Heavy rain falling over soils saturated by Tropical Storm Gamma this past weekend, led to widespread street flooding in many downtown districts. Thousands of tourists were evacuated from hotels and sent to shelters to wait out the storm.

The strong winds managed to topple trees and power lines, which lead to power outages for thousands of residents. Around half the cities in the state of Quintana Roo were without power as of Wednesday morning. Despite structural damage to some buildings in the form of blown out windows and damaged roofs, the damage is considered minor, compared to what was expected. Thankfully, no injuries or deaths have been reported so far.

Next stop for Delta is the hurricane ravaged state of Louisiana, where the storm is forecasted to make its second landfall. Storm weary residents, still reeling from Hurricane Laura in late August, are anxiously awaiting Delta’s arrival. Hurricane warnings are already in place and preparations are underway. Delta has begun to restrengthen after emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, and is forecast to grow in size as it approaches the Gulf Coast. A bigger storm would lead to more widespread damage in the form of storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains. Landfall is anticipated to occur either late Friday night or early Saturday morning as a high-end Category 2 storm, with winds of 110 mph (177 kph).

Beta Drenches Houston While Massive Teddy Rolls Toward Maritime Canada

Written by Team Morecast

 

An extremely active tropical cyclone period seems to be winding down. As of tonight (Tuesday, 22-Sept) there are no more active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin, and none expected in the next several days. However, two post-tropical storms will continue to cause major issues through Wednesday.

 

 

Post-tropical storm Beta has been drifting slowly near or along the western Gulf Coast for the past several days. When it made landfall on Monday night, it was the ninth named storm of the season to do so, tying a record for the most active season with plenty of time to break it. Although damage due to wind or storm surge has generally been slight, Beta has dumped torrential rain across much of southeast Texas. Parts of the Houston metro have seen 7-14 inches (175-350 mm) of rain since the weekend (see map above). Serious flash flooding has been result, closing down major highways and interstates and requiring numerous water rescues of stranded vehicles. This excess rainfall has already and will continue to cause dangerous rises in area creeks and rivers. Fortunately, Beta is beginning to weaken and move more quickly, reducing the flash flood threat going forward.

 

 

Hurricane Teddy peaked at Category Four intensity last week while moving over the open Atlantic. Fortunately, Teddy has thus far managed to avoid any serious direct impacts to land, although it brushed the island of Bermuda with gusty winds and rain. Teddy has, however, pushed high waves and elevated tides far ahead of its circulation. The entire eastern seaboard of the U.S. has seen this kind of rough surf over the past few days (see tweet video below from Maine). Teddy has transitioned to a post-tropical storm, but an extremely large and powerful one. Hurricane-like conditions are affecting portions of coastal Nova Scotia with Newfoundland likely the next target on Wednesday. Lead photo courtesy flickr users Lee and Chantelle McArthur.